Using cross-functional, cross-firm teams to co-create value: The role of financial measures

Increasingly, the involvement of representatives from all major business functions in cross-functional, crossfirmteams is being viewed as a means to develop and maintain profitable business-to-business relationships.However, if the measurements of the value co-created in these relationships with customers and suppliers donot incorporate the financial outcomes of joint cross-functional initiatives, managers can be led to makedecisions that jeopardize the long-term profitability of the two firms. In this paper, the authors explore thedifferences in value co-creation when a company is linked to key customers and key suppliers through crossfunctionalteams and when it is not. Using a case study approach, the authors measured value co-creation infinancial terms and describe how managers changed their behaviors toward customers and suppliers whenthey were able to compare the value that was being co-created in each relationship. In each pair ofrelationships, one involved cross-functional teams and the other did not. The results indicate that crossfunctional,cross-firm involvement leads to increased value co-creation. The research suggests that marketingscholars and managers should emphasize the use of cross-functional teams that involve all major functions tomanage relationships with key customers, and should incorporate financial measures in the evaluation ofrelationship performance

Tunneling Rate for Superparamagnetic Particles by the Instanton Method

We derive the tunneling rate for paramagnetic molecules in the context of a collective spin model. By means of path integral methods an analytical expression is derived. Given the very large spins in question (s ~ 3000 hbar), the observation of magnetization changes due to pure unitary tunnel effects is unlikely.Comment: 16 pages, 2 figure

Has Dark Energy really been discovered in the Lab?

We show that Dark Energy contributions can not be determined from noise measurements of Josephson junctions, as was recently suggested in a paper by C. Beck and M.C. Mackey.Comment: The paper is accepted for publication in Physics Letters B; added equation

Structure of metabotropic glutamate receptor C-terminal domains in contact with interacting proteins

Metabotropic glutamate receptors (mGluRs) regulate intracellular signal pathways that control several physiological tasks, including neuronal excitability, learning, and memory. This is achieved by the formation of synaptic signal complexes, in which mGluRs assemble with functionally related proteins such as enzymes, scaffolds, and cytoskeletal anchor proteins. Thus, mGluR associated proteins actively participate in the regulation of glutamatergic neurotransmission. Importantly, dysfunction of mGluRs and interacting proteins may lead to impaired signal transduction and finally result in neurological disorders, e.g., night blindness, addiction, epilepsy, schizophrenia, autism spectrum disorders and Parkinson's disease. In contrast to solved crystal structures of extracellular N-terminal domains of some mGluR types, only a few studies analyzed the conformation of intracellular receptor domains. Intracellular C-termini of most mGluR types are subject to alternative splicing and can be further modified by phosphorylation and SUMOylation. In this way, diverse interaction sites for intracellular proteins that bind to and regulate the glutamate receptors are generated. Indeed, most of the known mGluR binding partners interact with the receptors' C-terminal domains. Within the last years, different laboratories analyzed the structure of these domains and described the geometry of the contact surface between mGluR C-termini and interacting proteins. Here, I will review recent progress in the structure characterization of mGluR C-termini and provide an up-to-date summary of the geometry of these domains in contact with binding partners

Measuring the external risk in the United Kingdom

This paper aims to describe the evolution of the external risk in the United Kingdom between 1961 and 2008. We first present a theoretical description of the risk indicator. Then, we calculate this measure for the British economy in the period of study. In general, the results reveal a very small increase of external risk. Finally, the relationship between the two dimensions of external risk: trade openness and external volatility is analysed.trade openness, terms of trade volatility, external risk, United Kingdom

The Culture of Social Science Research

[Excerpt] This paper is valuable to any social scientist, whether he or she studies culture or not, because it empirically investigates the extremely important question of the linkage of theory and practice. Barley, Meyer, and Gash are deserving of considerable praise for their effort to take the question beyond the realm of ideological positions, into the domain of testing patterns of change and influence. They employed an innovative methodology to compare the pragmatics (connotative meanings) of language usage in academics\u27 and practitioners\u27 articles. However valuable this methodology might be for subsequent research, I will concentrate on the results themselves, and use them as an opportunity to reflect on how organizational researchers do social science

Issues of Concern for Restaurant Owners and Managers

Human resources continues to be the most troubling issue for U.S. restaurant owners and operators. When448 restaurateurs were given the chance to state their top concerns, they chose finding and keeping competent employees, closely followed by a constellation of concerns relating to government regulation, taxation, and legal liability. Other issues that respondents cited were ensuring safe food handling, finding effective marketing strategies, and staying ahead of competitors in a tight economic environment

Nafissatou Dia Diouf’s Critical Look at a “Senegal in the Midst of Transformation”

Nafissatou Dia Diouf is a Senegalese author who has garnered recognition both in her home country and internationally since she began publishing in the 1990s. Her work, including fiction, poetry, children’s literature, and philosophical essays, portrays diverse topics as they relate to her country such as education, marriage, polygamy, maternity/paternity, the influence of the West, the roles of business and government, and the power of the media. Diouf provides her reader with a comprehensive yet critical view of Senegal and shows how her homeland is affected by and reacts to the changes it currently faces. In a recent interview, Diouf stated: “For me, the first role of a citizen, even more when one has the power of influence such as in the case of writers, is to take a critical look (a constructive critique, of course) at one’s own country.” In this article that combines an interview with the author and textual analysis of her work, I explore how Nafissatou Dia Diouf critically examines contemporary Senegalese society and portrays a country in the process of transition and transformation. Through her visionary writing, Diouf works to construct a new type of Senegalese society and identity of which she and her fellow citizens can be proud

The Physical Safety and Security Features of U.S. Hotels

The physical attributes or features that signal safety and security are a critical part of the overall “servicescape” of a hotel and help to define the service experience. An investigation of the safety and security features of 5,487 U.S. hotels revealed significant differences in the distribution of these key amenities in various hotel price segments. Differences in these physical attributes were also found among hotels of various sizes, ages, and locations (e.g., urban, airport, small town). Analyzing hotel scores across several different categories revealed an average safety index score of 70 and a security index score of 64 out of a possible score of 100. Overall luxury and upscale hotels, newer hotels, larger hotels, and those located in urban and airport locations recorded the highest scores for safety and security. Using partial correlation analysis, safety and security scores were positively correlated with the published rate of the hotels, even when controlling for hotel size, age, location, and price segment, suggesting that offering more comprehensive physical safety and security features is associated with the advertising of a higher rate